Zoey's Awakening
by CatAssTrophy
Summary: Zoey is taken from her group by a smoker and is lead to the heart of all the infected. Will she have what it takes to survive or will she be turned into an infected as well?
1. Tongue Tied

Disclaimer: I do not own L4D nor any of its characters.

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"I can't see!" She screamed as she tried to wipe off the substance that blinded her. She readied her gun once she heard the shrieks of the infected rushing towards her. She could hear her friends behind her as she backed toward them, getting out of their way for when it was time to shoot. The hurried footsteps grew louder as they crept closer and within an instant, round after round began to be shot. The sound of the bullets being released echoed in her ears as she held off shooting until she could see. As the slime finally succumbed to gravity, she began to fire off some of her own bullets. With her pistols in hand and targets locked, she began to fire. Watching blood splatter across the floor and walls, she continued to shoot until there were no more coming after her.

"Thanks." she spoke gently as she began to wipe off the rest of the bile that covered her. As she looked towards her friends, she could see that she was the only one that had been Boomed on. "Well, lets keep going." She reloaded her guns before grabbing more ammo.

As she finished reloading, she stopped to study the three men in front of her. They had not known each other long, which meant that their help in the situation that had just happened was much appreciated. One of them was an older male in a military jacket. A military hat covered his head so she couldn't tell whether he was balding or not; like it mattered. He had combat boots that looked old and torn which meant he probably wore them all the time before the epidemic, or he hadn't worn them in a long time. There was an unlit cigarette in his mouth resting between his lips. She didn't know whether he was saving it or just liked how it looked. Just by his appearance, she could tell that he had probably fought in a war. His attitude was stern but probably for the better. She was a tad taller than him, but that was probably due to his old age and his slightly hunched back. His name was Bill.

The next was wearing a wife beater with a leather vest and a leather pair of pants. His skin was covered in tattoos, or at least his arms were; she didn't dare to think about how the rest of him looked. His hair was very short and brown with a goatee that complimented his bone structure. He had a biker look, so she could only assume that he was a "trouble maker". His mouth was filled with sarcasm every time he spoke, and he always wanted to do things his way, or he'd complain. When shooting zombies, he seemed to get quite the pleasure out of it. This was probably the best thing to ever happen to him. His name was Francis.

The last person in front of her wore a white button-up shirt with greyish brown pants. His shirt was partially tucked in and partially hanging out. He had a red tie that was loose around his neck and a black belt that looped through his pants. He looked very clean cut, probably worked in an office of some sort working a 9 to 5 job; she could only dream of having a job. He was a very positive kind of person, very optimistic in the dire situation that had taken place. She could see herself getting along with him on a personality level most out of the three. His name was Louis.

All four of them were in the same boat. They were left for dead, trapped in the city while everyone else was evacuating or dying between the city walls. She was lucky enough to have found them.

Suddenly, she was snapped out of her thoughts as one of them spoke. "Zoey, if you wait any damn longer the damn zombies are going to getcha'!" Bill called out to her in his raspy voice as they all waited for her to join them.

"Yeah Zoey, if you want to wait there then that's you're own fault, I wont come back to save you." Francis spat out as he slung his gun over his shoulder, lazying his stance.

"Francis, you know we're not going to leave her. " Louis spoke as he lightly pushed Francis.

"Yeah, you're right. She is the only woman we've encountered so far that isn't a zombie so it's up to her to repopulate. This building is empty if you'd like to get a head start." Francis began to laugh as he pushed Louis in return.

Zoey raised a brow as she began to walk towards her companions with a dumbfounded look. "You really just said that, didn't you?" she spoke to Francis as she stopped in front of him. His posture changed as he took his gun from his shoulders and held it in both hands, the barrel aimed at Louis.

"Hey hey hey!" Louis jumped out of the way as he watched Francis' gun point towards him. "Get that out of my face!"

"Quite your whining, Louis, it's not like I'm going to shoot you." Francis called back to Louis before returning his eyes on Zoey. "Well, it's true." he jokingly spoke as he turned around to join Louis.

"Now that's enough of that crap. We need to get to a safe room before we get bombarded by zombies!" Bill scolded as if talking to a bunch of 8 year olds.

"Well, if that's how you see it, Francis, it looks like you need me more than I need you." Zoey continued the conversation as they began to search for a saferoom, motioning towards Bill and Louis.

"The way I see it, I only have one person to compete with. Bill's job is not the only thing he has retired from, leaving only Louis to compete." Francis chuckled at his reply.

"Who said I was retired from my job?" Bill questioned as he aimed his gun at Francis' head. "I'm still serving." He stared into Francis' eyes before lowering the gun from his head. "Now that's enough of this crap, lets keep moving."

"Yeah yeah, whatever old man." A defeated Francis spoke as they began to walk, hearing Louis and Zoey laugh quietly to themselves.

They had only met a few hours ago, but they had already bonded into a family. Somehow meeting in the streets, Zoey thanked God for her luck in finding them. They had all stumbled into the same street as if this were meant to happen.

They continued to walk until they heard a soft cry. "Shhhh." Bill whispered as he turned to face the three behind him. He brought his finger to his mouth so that if they didn't hear him, they could tell by his body language to be quiet. The cry moaned through closed doors, getting louder as they neared it. "It sounds like a woman." Francis commented as he began to walk faster to reach her. "Looks like you wont be the soul hope to repopulating, Zoey." He chuckled as he listened for where the cry was coming from, approaching the door where they knew she was behind.

Zoey rolled her eyes at Francis' comment as they reached the door. It would be nice to have another female in the group, it'd give Francis something else to occupy his mind with. The cry had became louder than ever. 'For a cry so loud, how come it has not attracted any zombies?' Zoey thought to herself as they opened the door.

A lady sat at the end of the room, sobbing. "It's okay, we're here to help you." Zoey extended a hand and crept closer to her. As she stood only a few feet from her, she could see the woman start to change. Startled by the light of her flashlight, the lady started to stand up, screeching in the process. They all looked at the woman; she had long sharp fingers, piercing eyes, and was ready to take them down. "Run!" Bill called out as they left the room and shut the door behind them. Louis stood in front of the door, trying to keep her in. When all was silent, the woman's hand broke through the door and started scratching whatever it could. Firing his gun, Louis began to shoot the woman. "Damn witch!" he shouted over his loud gun. She wasn't like any of the other zombies they had encountered. They had come across many different kinds of zombies and named them for what suited them best, and this one was just a stubborn witch. A now dead stubborn Witch.

"You were saying, Francis? Go ahead, you can repopulate with that." Zoey replied to him from his earlier comment.

"Good one." Francis replied with rolling eyes as the air grew eerily quiet.

It wasn't long until the quiet was filled with raging yells from zombies. "We're surrounded!" Bill enlightened them as if they hadn't already known. Holding their guns in ready positions, they started firing away. "Fire in the hole!" Zoey shouted as she threw a pipe bomb. They watched as the zombies began to run towards the device, exploding into bits when it went off.

Just then a loud groan was emitted through the air as the ground began to shake. Looking behind them, they saw a giant being running towards them, pushing cars and remaining zombies out of the way to reach them. "Do we shoot or do we run? Do we shoot or do we run?!" Louis called out as he quickly began to run away from the brute.

"Both!" Bill replied as they all began to run and shoot.

"There!" Zoey pointed to a scaffolding and they began to climb it.

"It's a fucking tank, it isn't going down!" Francis shouted as it seemed the bullets did nothing but anger it.

One by one, each of them climbed the scaffolding onto a rooftop. Zoey stayed a flight of stairs down so she could shoot the zombies that were trying to climb up, giving the boys a chance to be safe. As she was about to start climbing up the remaining flight, she felt a quick tug on the scaffolding. Looking down, she noticed that the Tank was making his way up it. As she tried to steady herself, she became panicked when she saw the structure breaking from the side of the building. Looking down at the Tank and zombies below, Zoey returned her sight on her friends on the building. Running up the breaking stairs, she took a leap of faith.

"Francis!" Zoey leaped from the broken scaffolding, extending a hand and praying that he would catch her. Without a second thought, Francis leaped forward to catch Zoey's hand, succeeding. Pulling her up, Zoey gave him a thanking nod, thankful to be on cement and not dead on the ground with the Tank.

"We made it!" Louis rejoiced, "I can't believe we actually made it!"

"Son, we only crossed the street." Bill snarked back while lighting his cigarette, hitting them all with the reality that they really only had just crossed a street. It wasn't something to feel accomplished about. If crossing a street was this hard, they couldn't imagine how the rest of their journey would be.

As they situated themselves on the top of the roof, a loud sound began to emitt through the air. "To anyone who can hear this: proceed to Mercy Hospital for evacuation! Repeat, proceed to Mercy Hospital for evacuation!" A helicopter voiced as it flew by. Their eyes opened wide with relief when they found out that they were not the only uninfected.

The chances of them making it to Mercy Hospital dawned on Zoey as she feared they wouldn't be great. The hospital was on the other side of town, no where near where they were. On the rooftop, Zoey looked down at the mangled carcass that was once the Tank. "Is that it, or are there greater things than him? Hunters, Smokers, Boomers and now Witches and Tanks? This can't get worse...It just cant..." she thought to herself while standing up, walking to the other side of the rooftop to see what else she could see. She found the letters of Mercy Hospital glowing in the distance. The men began to talk among each other as Zoey gazed about the city.

"Where do we go from here?" Her voice was soft as she spoke. Would they all make it out of here, or would they all soon become like them? Could they really get to the hospital?

"We try to go to Mercy Hospital, they're waiting for survivors there!" Louis commented positively as he looked towards the sky in the hospitals direction.

"Easier said than done." Francis sat against the building that was attached to the roof they were on. He sat his gun next to him, letting his guard down and just relaxing since nothing was coming for them.

"Well, if there's hope then you bet your goddamn ass that I am going for it." Bill stood from his sitting position and motioned towards the door. "I'll see peace back on Earth if I gotta murder every one of these bastards with my bare goddamn hands!"

"Before saving the Earth, how about we rest up old man." Francis began as motioned to Zoey and Louis. "We're all tired. It won't do us much good killing zombies while being half asleep, we might shoot each other. Plus, this might be our only chance to rest up and I say we take it!"

"Francis, you know what'd do us more good than all of your whining and joking? Shooting." The old man replied as he again motioned for the door.

"It wouldn't hurt to even take just an hours rest." Louis surprisingly agreed with Francis. "It would help us in the long run, and I'd rather not get shot by Francis."

"Yeah, I second that." Zoey quickly agreed.

Francis looked at Louis and Zoey with a blank stare, cocking his head to the side like a lost dog. "Yeah, 'cause I'd be the one to shoot you down, unlike old man Dementia over there. He probably wont even know who we are in an hour."

"I'm still on the clock, Francis. Don't make me mistake you as a zombie." Bill moved to sit back down where he once was. "We'll rest up, then, but no more than a couple of hours." His voice was stern in the agreement.

As everyone shut their eyes to get a moments sleep, Zoey remained looking off into the distance at the hospital sign. A heavy sigh escaped her mouth as she sat at the ledge of the building. She looked at her friends and saw how peaceful they looked. She hadn't seen them this vulnerable, it wasn't surprising since she had only known them less than a day. It was a side of them she didn't expect to see so soon.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted when she heard something in the distance. Cocking her head to the direction of the sound, she began to scan the area. Nothing. "Probably just some zombies fighting in the distance." She thought as she eased up. At that moment, Zoey felt something wrap around her, quickly tightening and pulling her from the ledge of the building. A loud scream escaped her mouth as she plummeted to the ground below. Her scream didn't last long as her natural instincts took over, letting her black out instead of feeling the pain of hitting the cement below. The last thing she remembered was the sight of Louis, Bill, and Francis looking over the ledge of the building at her.

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	2. Craig's Sandwich

Disclaimer: I do not own L4D nor any of its characters.

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As she continued her sights on the ceiling, she wondered how she had got there. "Did the guys end up saving me last night?" she thought as she tried to bring her hand to her head. That's when she noticed the dried blood cracking on her skin. Painfully lifting her head to look at her body, she could see her cuts through her torn clothes. They were already scabbing over. "Was it last night? How long have I been here?"

Her breathing steadied as she took a deep breath in to relax herself. Slowly sitting up, she winced in pain but managed to get all the way straight up. "Where am I?" she thought to herself as she studied her surroundings. There were papers scattered across the floor along with many other objects. The room was dark, only illuminated by the sunlight that shone through the blinds of the window.

"Hello?" She called out, hoping to hear one of her companions voices. Everything remained quiet and still as her voiced echoed in the building. Slowly standing up, to her surprise, she found her duel pistols in her belt. "Thank God!" a heavy, but good, sigh escaped her lips as she felt safer. With her pistols at her side, she began to quietly roam through where she was. Finding a door, she slowly twisted the handle and opened it. She watched as it slowly swung open, leading into a hallway. By the looks of it, she figured she was in an apartment building. Stepping out of the room, she closed the door behind her, not wanting to risk getting bit by an unseen zombie that might still linger in the place she was once at.

Proceeding down the hallway, she scanned the rooms before entering them in case of zombies. When she thought she was in the clear, Zoey began to make her way to the top of the building. "Better stay as far away from them than near them." Her thoughts focused on getting to the rooftop where, hopefully, there would be no zombies.

Following the signs saying "Stairway" and "Rooftop", Zoey pushed open a metal door that lead to the rooftop. The door creaked as she forced it open; quickly shutting it in return.

She could feel the sun beating down on her. "I wish I had a tarp to block this sun." she thought to herself as she sat by the ledge of the building. Looking down, Zoey could see the building in which she was pulled off of. "I know where I am!" She looked closely to see if she could see her friends. No luck. As she peered down, she looked to see how many zombies were in the streets; a lot. The streets were filled with them. "Why couldn't they be like vampires so I could at least travel during the day and not be stuck on this damned building..." another thought burst through her head as her aggravation level began to skyrocket. She did not want to be stuck on this rooftop.

Moments passed until she finally stood up again, dusting off her tattered jeans in the process. Taking off her dirtied pink hoodie, she revealed her clean, white tank top underneath. Her arms were covered in scrapes and bruises ranging from shades of purples to greens. She set her hoodie on the ground as a slight breeze began to brush against her wounded arms; it felt phenomenal. It was the closest thing to an ice pack she was going to get. She took advantage of the wind while she had the chance before walking to the rooftop door. "It's now or never. I don't have the time or the supplies to stay up here until I heal." She picked up her hoodie and carefully placed it over her arms. Zipping it up, she pulled her duel pistols from the back of her belt. Opening the door, she began to head down the stairs; it was time.

As she made her way through the building, she noticed how eerily vacant it was. Looking closely at the buildings detail, unlike before since she was trying to find an exit, she realized that she had been wrong about it being an apartment complex. "An office building. I imagine Louis must have worked in a place like this." Her thoughts began to wonder. She couldn't imagine working in cubicles all day.

As she continued her search, she found a mini fridge. Opening it, she found a water bottle and a guy named Craig's sandwich. Placing her guns back in her belt, she took both things. She sat on an office chair next to the fridge and began to eat the food. "I better save some of this for later, I don't know if I'll find these things for a while." Zoey thought as she found a plastic bag. Placing the items in the bag, she tied it to one side of her belt; she then began to search the building once more.

The sound that the plastic bag made was loud so she decided against keeping it and removed her items. She placed half of the sandwich and the water in her hoodie.

Suddenly, a noise made her jump as she quickly pulled out her pistols and turned around. She slowly walked forward until a zombie popped out from around the corner. Shocked, Zoey backed up a tad, looking at the zombie. She noticed his ripped clothing and a bloodied white shirt. Looking more at the shirt, she noticed a name-tag reading "Craig".

"This is about the sandwich isn't it?" Zoey spoke aloud to the zombie, only getting mumbles in return. As he approached her, she shot him in the head with her right gun. Quickly regretting firing the shot, she hugged her ears with her hands; guns still in them. After her ears stopped ringing, she released her hands from her ears; too quiet. She started to walk backwards, knowing something wasn't right, that's when she saw a swarm of zombies heading her way. "Crap!" With a burst of adrenaline, she forgot about her wounds and began running for the stairs, using all of her energy to climb back to the rooftop. Once a-top, she closed the door behind her, latching the lock from the outside. Back against the door, she slowly slid down until in a full sitting position. She jolted when zombies began to rage from the other side of the door. Breathing heavily, Zoey took a deep breath and looked up towards the sky, "I need help..."

After breathing for a few moments, Zoey knew she had to get out of there. "It's only a matter of time before they break that door down..." she thought as she stood up and got as far away from the door as she could. Readying her pistols, she backed away from the door, keeping her aim on it just in case the zombies broke it down. Almost slipping, Zoey stumbled as she hit the ledge of the building. Looking behind her, she looked at the lengthy drop that she almost took for a ride, again.

Side-stepping alongside the edge of the building, she began to look for a fire escape. As she made her way around the perimeter of the building, she finally found one, "Thank God!" Lowering her aim from the door, she hopped over the ledge to land onto the fire escape. Crouching in pain, she held onto her wounded legs while rocking back and forth. The pain was unbearable. Forced to move on, Zoey began to make her way down the metal steps as quickly as she could. She made it as far down as she possibly could until she saw that half of the fire escape was broken. "Well, I would hate to have lived here during a fire." She thought for a moment about the failed safety plan of the building instead of escaping. A boom echoed through the air which snapped her back into reality. She knew the door had been opened. She climbed back one flight of stair to a window and began to break the glass with the handles of her pistols. Once in, she took a quick scan of the room before facing the window once more.

She could hear the zombies running about the top of the building looking for her. Without having to think twice, she gathered what she could to block the window. "This room looks familiar..." she thought as she re-scanned the room. She plopped onto the floor when she realized that this was the room she awoke in. All of her efforts seemed to be for not. "Am I meant to die in this room?"

Leaning her back against the barricade she had made in front of the window, she tilted her head up to look at the ceiling. Thoughts tried to form in her head, but she was unable to think. This epidemic broke out, her family died, she was stranded alone, found three great companions, was pulled off a building by a smoker, survived and found herself in an unfamiliar building, found out where she was, tried to escape, and was now back in the same room she had woken up in. Was it her time to die? Was it her destiny to not survive? The only thing she was sure of, was that she was confused.

A quiet tear slid down her cheek as she sat lifeless; she didn't know what to do. Looking down at her pistols, she checked the chambers to see how many bullets she had left. Three. She had three bullets left. Lifting up one of the guns in her hand, she stared at it. "I could make this all go away... I can stop this all right now." Her dark thoughts began to take over her mind as she contemplated the idea of ending it all. She would no longer feel the pain of trying to survive, she would no longer have to worry about saving her friends, she wouldn't have to worry about becoming an infected or watching a friend become an infected; it would all just disappear.

She brought the gun closer to her head.

More tears began to slide down her face, leaving a red trail in its wake. Slight sobs escaped out of her mouth as she held it up to her left temporal. Holding her hand firm on the gun, she brought her index finger to the trigger, feeling how much force she'd have to put on it for the bullet to release. "It will take this all away. I will no longer have to live this nightmare."

As she began to put pressure on the trigger, her mind began to search for an image. Scanning through her memories, her mind finally stopped when it reached an image of her dad.

"Failure?"

Her arm went limp, falling back to the floor. "I am not a failure!" She shouted out in anger as her sobs quickly retreated back into her. "I wont fail him..."

Ignoring her wounds, she began to stand up. She was going to try to survive no matter what it took. She had three bullets, two in her right gun and one in her left, and thousands of zombies to fight. She'd make it work.

Limping towards the door she had once left earlier, she twisted the handle, this time not caring if she made noise, and walked the opposite direction down the hall so she could take the stairs down instead of up; there was no way in hell she'd return to the roof where all the zombies were.

As she entered and exited different rooms, she was startled when she heard a cough. Quickly aiming her guns, she did a 360. Her heart began to race as she heard the cough grow louder; it was nearing her. "Is this the same smoker?"

Backing up into a corner, she felt somewhat safe with two directions being cut off from where the smoker could get her. Within a blink of an eye, she felt herself get roped by the smoker. "No!" She shouted out as she was pulled into the smokers grasp, dropping her guns in the process. "Let go of me!" Zoey yelled as she tried to wiggle her way out, but found it useless. She continued to kick as the smoker picked her up with his hands, tongue still wrapped around her, and brought her to a different room. She began to panic.

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	3. Special Infected High

Disclaimer: I do not own L4D nor any of its characters. 

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Limping his way around, the Smoker held Zoey tight as he carried her. It felt like she had been in his grasp for ages. The saliva from his tongue felt acidic on her skin, leaving it burning and itching with her unable to alleviate it. "Let me go!" She began to scream as he opened the door with the tip of his tongue, keeping Zoey tight in his grasp.

As the door opened, the rusty hinges began to squeak. Light began to shine on Zoey's face as they entered the room, but instead of it being light from the sun, it was light from candles. As she looked into the dim lit room, she could see shadows beyond the light, just out of its range.

Her heart began to race as she felt all eyes from the shadows were on her, causing her breathing to become erratic. As her chest rapidly heaved up and down, she could feel adrenaline course through her body once more. Her eyes started looking around the room, noticing anything and everything that could be used as a weapon against the creatures. Her vision was soon focused on the floor along with a 'thump' that went along with it; the Smoker had dropped her.

Quickly turning around to look at him, she started to back away from him. Looking around, she grabbed one of the candles, holding it firm in her grasp. "What am I going to do with this?!" Zoey thought as she remained backing up. That's when she noticed the smokers tongue still on the floor, far from his mouth. Lunging forward, she roughly grabbed the smoker's tongue. While it was in her grasp, she began to pour the wax that had melted from the heat onto its tongue. A screech came from the smoker as it began to feel its tongue burning. While he was in this state, Zoey dropped the candle and lunged for the smoker. Knocking the pain-stricken infected towards the ground, she began to hit his head, one punch after the other. It was then she felt something wrap around her and pull her off.

"Get the fuck off of me!" She screamed as she turned her head around to see what was holding her. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the hefty beast holding her; it was a Tank. Screaming, she began to hit the Tank's hands, hoping it'd make him let go. It didn't.

Looking around the room once more to see what she could do, she found her body becoming very still. They were everywhere. It wasn't just one of each special infected, it was many. She noticed that there were only special infected, no common looking ones at all. A hard lump hit her stomach as she began to shake uncontrollably.

"What the hell do you want!" She tried to scream, but her panicked stated wouldn't let her voice stay even. Never in her life did she think she was going to die like this. Were they all going to tear her apart piece by piece? Would they let her bleed out? What was going on?

Her eyes were drawn back to the smoker when she heard grunts coming from the direction. What she saw shocked her. Two more smokers seemed to be helping the wounded one. One seemed to be calming him while the other was peeling the dried wax off of the tip of his tongue.

"What the hell is going on?"

How did the infected know to help each other? Was there still some part of being human in them? Zoey didn't know what to think.

Her sight was once again redirected when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Quickly looking to see what was touching her, she saw a Hunter. His eyes were covered by the shadow that his hood provided him in the candle light, his face was grey with blood stains in various places, his lips were cracked from lack of hydration, and his teeth were surprisingly in good condition, smiling at her. Wait, he was smiling at her? Shooting her eyes to try to find his, she couldn't help but wonder how this creature was controlling himself from eating her; how they all were controlling themselves from eating her. "What do you want?"

The Hunter gave out a light huff as he touched the girl on her face, not even noticing her flinch. Trailing his way down, his hand made its way towards her torn sleeves where he parted the opening with his fingers. He could see scratches that were from common infected. Tilting his head at them, he looked even closer before returning his eyes on the girl.

A twitch formed on the corner of his mouth as he made his way to her zipper. Zoey started to squirm even more. "Stop it!" her yells were for not. Slowly unzipping her hoodie, he removed it completely, throwing it on the floor.

"What the hell is he doing?!" Zoey's mouth was open as she watched the Hunter touching her arms. All she could do was cringe. It wasn't until he shoved her scratched forearm in her face for her to noticed that she had been scratched.

"No..." a low whisper escaped her mouth as she looked at the swollen marks on the back of her arm. She hadn't even noticed it before. Forgetting that a giant Tank was holding her, she began to feel over the wound with her other hand. She couldn't feel a thing.

Water began to form in her eyes as she looked at the marks. She knew that she was going to turn. "I should have just ended it!" She shouted to herself as the tears began to fall from her eyes, referring to when she was alone in the room.

"Is that why you wont eat me, because I'm already dead?! Is that why, Hmmm? I'm not your perfect piece of uninfected meat!" She lashed out at the Hunter, who remained standing in front of her in a slightly hunched position, his smile never leaving his face. "What, you think I am going to join your little Special Infected club? Fuck you!" She spat in his face. "Let me guess, you're also all smart enough to take wagers on what I am going to turn into. I hope I don't disappoint you when I turn into a common!" her rage was getting the best of her as she began to flail about in the Tank's hold.

It bothered her that the Hunter remained still and smiling throughout her rant, only pissing her off even more. They clearly still had human comprehension, were they all now sadistic? Did sympathy or empathy get erased from their memory, only knowing how to rally up and light candles for seances? "I wont be apart of anything you have planned." She spat again, this time at his feet.

She couldn't stand looking at the Hunter in front of her anymore. Taking her sights away, she noticed that the trio of Smokers were gone. Still in the room were plenty of other Smokers who's coughs filled the air, Witches who were surprisingly silent, one other Tank huffing about, Hunters that were crouched, and Boombers blubbing in the corner. It was like they were in high school, staying with their own kind. In this High School, Zoey was the odd man out, the only one sitting at her table. She knew it would soon change, that she would soon change.

"Just let me go." Her eyes returned on the lead Hunter who's position had not changed. "You have a millions of other people to take. I don't want this life, just let me go." She felt silly as she tried to reason with a Hunter. Usually they just parkoured around her, pouncing on her when she had the chance. It was silly to think that they understood. "I just want to go."

Her blue eyes pleaded with the Hunter as she hung from the Tank's grasp. Her eyes darted to his hand when he began to move it. The Hunter moved his head to look at the Tank towering over them both. With his motor skills not being all there, he began to try to form what seemed to be a thumbs up.

Zoey's heart began to race once more as she heard the Tank above her start to make noise, as if replying to the Hunter's signal. Her ribs began to tighten as she felt a tremendous amount of pressure on them. Gasping from the Tank's gripping action, spots began to form in her vision. Colors began to all fade into a light yellow and grey. She thought that this was it. She was disappointed when she didn't see her life flash before her eyes. No images of family nor fond memories. All she was the Hunter's devious smile as her sight faded to black.

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	4. What's a VHS?

Disclaimer: I do not own L4D nor any of its characters.

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_"Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad!" a small voice shouted as she ran across the living room floor, practically knocking over a chair that was in her way so she could greet her father who had just returned home. "Dad!" She shouted once more, hugging her father in the process._

_"Whoa there, Zoey. What's got you all riled up?" The man kneeled down and held his daughter, returning her hug._

_"She's been waiting all day for you." a female voiced called from the other room. "I have been waiting, too. It is your turn now." laughter followed as the woman came closer. Her hair was brown, long enough to reach her mid-chest._

_"Oh yeah?" He replied as he stood up, leaning down to give his wife a kiss before putting his sights back on his daughter, who was a spitting image of his lady._

_"Dad, I got a new zombie movie that you have to watch with me!" Zoey jumped up and down as she held the VHS in her hand. "It's gonna' be so cool!" She hugged it close to her chest as she swayed back and forth._

_"I still can't believe you let her watch those R rated movies. She's only 6." The woman gave her husband a raised brow as they both watched how excited their daughter was about the thriller. _

_"What, she's mature for her age." That was his best retort, feeling his wife's gaze burning into his soul. _

_"Wade, look, she's picking her nose." she pointed to Zoey who now held the film in one hand while her other was digging for gold._

_"C'mon Dad, I've been waiting all day..." Zoey took her finger out of her nose, rubbing its findings on her pants before returning to her position of holding the VHS and swaying._

_"How did she get that movie, Carolyn? I didn't give it to her." Wade looked over at his wife with the biggest smirk, knowing that she had to have been the source._

_"Well," she brought a hand up to hold her shoulder as she pretended to rub it, "I just figured it'd give you guys something to bond over. Plus, it's all I've been hearing all day 'Mom, let me see this movie. Mom, let me see that movie'" Carolyn brought her hand down, folding both of them in front of her chest. "Like you said, she's mature for her age." _

_"Daaaaad!" the little girl began to jump up and down as she watched her parents ignoring her, talking amongst each other instead._

_"That's what I thought." Wade nudged his wife before walking over to Zoey, picking her up in his arms. "Alright, lets go watch some zombies! And after that, I'll tell you all about vampires!" _

_A squeal filled the house as Zoey began to wiggle in her dad's grasp. "Thank you Daddy!" She threw her arms around her father's neck, dropping the tape on accident. Wade turned around to see where the tape had fallen so he could pick it up, only to have it handed to him by Carolyn. _

_"Dinner is in an hour. We'll call that an intermission." She smiled sweetly at Wade and her daughter. _

_"Thanks Mom! Off to kill zombies!" Zoey pointed down the hallway as her Dad carried her to their movie room. _

* * *

Blue eyes shot open, quickly followed by a painful scream. "Fuck!" a hoarse voice echoed through the room. Pain filled her body, more than the previous morning, as Zoey clenched her chest. Another scream filled the room, this time being cut off half way through. The muscles that were used to scream only brought pain to her small frame. Coughing and rolling to her side on the floor, Zoey couldn't help but let tears fall down her cheeks, staining them once more. She thought that this was all over, that she was dead, but she was wrong. She was still very much alive.

"Why?" Her thought brought more tears to her eyes, knowing she had to live another day in the fucked up world. Clenching her hoodie's fabric in her hands, her eyes trailed down to see what she was wearing. The last thing she remembered was the Hunter taking the hoodie off. How did it get back on her?

That's when she remembered that she was still in the clutches of the Special Infected Avengers; the Tank being the Hulk, the Smoker was Captain America, the Witch was Black Widow, the Boomer was probably a fat Thor, and their ring leader jackass Hunter was none other than Iron Man. All characters united to bring down their enemy, Humanity.

Zoey couldn't help that her mind went to comic book references. Her childhood was filled with them along with horror flicks which bonded her with her father. Remembering all of the late nights she spent reading comics or watching old films with her dad filled her with joy. Hiding their late night activities from her mother, but knowing she knew what was going on, was a thrill! It was all fun until her Mom couldn't take it anymore, handing her father divorce papers.

Joint custody was granted, leaving Zoey to spend every other week at her father's place. They continued their late night movie fests, loving how they could see how each film progressed technologically. It made Zoey know what she wanted to be when she grew up. She wanted to be a filmmaker.

Her mother wasn't too pleased on the idea, always trying to get her to change her mind. Her nights spent with her mom weren't too fun, always looking forward to the week she'd spend at her fathers. She loved her mother to death, they just had little in common, unlike her relationship with her father. They both loved comics, old movies, any horror based thing, shooting guns at the gun range, the same food, any everything in between. He also supported her choice while her mother did not.

In the end, it all didn't matter. She ended up having to kill her Dad after her infected mother had bitten him. It was the hardest thing she had to watch and the hardest thing she had to do. She can still hear the screams from her mom before she had died, the scream of her father when he had been bitten, the last 'I love you' she heard from her father, and the gun firing due to her hand. The world was indeed a fucked up place.

Taking in a painful breath, Zoey brought her hand up and wiped her salted cheeks dry as she exhaled. She didn't know where she was, and at the moment, she didn't care. Her family was dead, her friends were dead, and her group that she was taken from was probably dead. She had yet to mourn for any of her losses, but couldn't stop it from happening now. Bringing her knees to her chest, ignoring the pain, she began to sob.

She could feel the tears escaping from her closed eyes as her sobs echoed in the room. Her breathing staggered as she inhaled, making her body shake in the process. The physical pain it was causing didn't even compare to the emotional pain she was in. She was alone, she was lost, and she was left for dead.

"If you were dead or still alive. I don't care, I don't care. Just go and leave it all behind. I don't care, I don't care. At all." She slowly sang to herself, just adding to the pathetic mess that she knew she was. She couldn't help but be a total wreck, feeling no one cared for her anymore because everyone she knew that did care was now dead.

Her sobs grew harder and louder as she rolled onto her back. Her knees were bent, making her feet firmly plant on the ground. Both of her hands were covering her eyes, her hoodie absorbing the tears into the fabric. "I don't care anymore!" She shouted at the top of her lungs as she remained in her position.

It wasn't long after her scream when she heard noise coming from her left. Tilting her head in the direction, she saw a small line of light that was an inch tall from the floor. The noise she heard turned out to be footsteps, stopping once they had reached the door. The knob of the door began to jiggle. With how long it was taking the being to open it, Zoey knew that it had to be the Hunter. She remembered his lack of motor skills in making a thumbs-up, making her certain it was the same lack of motor skills trying to twist a knob. Then, it opened.

The light coming from the door's entrance made Zoey's eyes squint. Closing her eyes real tight, she brought her hands back up to rub them before setting them on each side of her collar bone. She was right, it was Infected Iron Man.

The Hunter crouched down, making his way to Zoey. Before doing so, he made sure to shut the door with his foot as he passed by. When the door had shut, Zoey's eyes had to readjust to the dark, making her blind for the moment. She could still hear the Hunter moving around and flinched when he had touched her face.

"What do you want? Why am I still here?" Zoey asked before she lost the courage to. It felt like she was in her own horror movie, she wondered how the ending would be. "Why can't you just talk to me? Are you unable or are you just fucking stupid?" Her words were sour as the Hunter retracted his hand from her.

His mumbles concerned her as they both remained still in the dark. She could hear him gurgling his throat, as if he were trying to clear it. She could hear all of the mucus from his throat being brought to his mouth. Her eyes adjusted to the dark right in time for her to see the Hunter lunge his head towards her. A scream filled the room when she felt the Hunter's mucused filled spit on her face.

Ignoring the pain, she lifted her body up and began to wipe the putrid smelling saliva off of her. "That's fucking disgusting!" She yelled as she sat down, not having the energy to remain standing. "You're a sick fuck!"

"Y-y-you d-did it f-f-fir-r-st." A deep, raspy voice replied to her making her eyes focus on him while her body stiffened. She knew he was referring to when she had spat on him the previous day.

"Did I just get told by an Infected?" Zoey's face would be bright red if anyone could see it, her mouth open, and her eyes wide. "You can talk."

"Yes." The Hunter spoke with ease at the simple word.

"Then tell me what the hell you're doing with me. Why am I here?!" Her back found a wall as she leaned against it for support, not wanting to lay down in the presence of the Hunter nor be close enough for him to spit at her again.

"C-can-nt ta-alk ver-ry w-well." He slowly spoke. You could hear the restraint in his voice, like something was blocking him from speaking more.

"Well you need to practice because I want answers." She crossed her arms as she tried her best to give him a dirty look in the dark. She could see his silhouette, but that was all. She wasn't sure if he could see better in the dark or not, but if he could, she was putting on a face for him. "Are you going to eat me?"

"No." The hunter began to crouch walk towards her while making an evil growl. He stopped when he close enough to touch her, placing both of his hands on her knees. Using her knees as support, he brough his head to hers, smelling her. "In-fe-ct... Infected." He took a hand off of one of her knees and placed it on the back of her forearm.

Zoey couldn't help but try and hold her breath. The creature smelled awful and she didn't want to vomit. When he had told her she was infected, her eyes softened. "I know. Now I wait to turn."

The Hunter climbed off of her but remained his sights on her. "No. No t-turn."

"How do you know?" Zoey questioned as she took a horrid breath in, trying not to gag from the smell. She fixated her eyes on him, though, wondering how this Hunter knew that she would not turn. She was right to call him the Special Infected Iron Man since he seemed to be so filled with scientific knowledge.

"J-j-just do." He spoke again, this time leaning his own back against the wall as he brought his legs into a criss-crossed position.

Turning her head away from him so she didn't have to smell the beast, she wondered how long she'd have to be here. If she wasn't good enough to eat nor infected enough to change, why did the Hunter and his little humanity-destroying Avengers want her? Clearly all of them couldn't be as smart as this Hunter seemed to be, they sure didn't seem so when she was killing them on the street. They were leaping from buildings and attacking people. If they all had the brains that this one did, they'd all be in tuxedos going door to door asking if we all belived in the power of Infected Jesus Christ. None of this made sense, but the fact that she was hungry did.

She had been so engorged in pain that she had forgotten that it had been a long while since she had eaten. The last thing she had was a bite of Craig's sandwich, which wasn't too filling since the bastard had already eaten the majority of it. It seemed like it was yesterday, but she knew better than to belive she was only out for a day after a Tank had just about broke her ribs. "I'm hungry." she tilted her head to look at the Hunter, who's beady eyes were already on her.

"Okay." the Hunter replied as she stood up as tall as he could with his slight hunch and made his way to the door. She could hear him jiggling the handle once more as he tried his best to open it. A small laugh escaped Zoey's mouth as she watched his silhouette struggle. When the door was finally open, the Hunter turned around to face her, light shining into the room from behind him. "S-sta-y h-here."

"Yeah, because I am so fit to get up and leave right now." The door shut after he spoke leaving Zoey alone in the room once more. The simple fact of knowing he had no means in harming her gave her somewhat comfort. If he returned to her with food, she'd be even more comfortable, but for now, she was left in the dark with her thoughts.

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Please review. All are welcome whether they are good or bad. It'd help me know if anyone is interested in me continuing this fiction. :)


	5. Louis' Pills

Disclaimer: I do not own L4D Nor any of its characters.

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Metal used to be the colder object, but now that he was infected, he was colder. Releasing his hand from the door, he limped his way over to the staircase he had climbed down in order to see why the girl was screaming. With each step he took, he could feel the insides of his body shifting around; it all seemed disconnected.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he struggled once more to open a door. With a frustrated huff, he began to beat the door with his fists. One hit after the other, he managed to knock the whole thing down, climbing over the rubble beneath him.

He didn't like how everything was different. Not knowing how to do the simplest tasks upset him. Vague flashes of another life would flash through his head, flashes of a person opening a door. Everything seemed so easy and full of color. Now his world was grey and full of struggles. Looking down at his cut up hands, he tilted his head when he saw no blood escape through the open wounds. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he couldn't feel any pain. Hell, he flat out just couldn't feel. He could feel the pressure, but not the actual touch.

Studying his hands was quickly forgotten when he felt his shoulder drop a tad. Turning around, he saw his Smoker friend, the same one that the girl had injured. Turning around to face him, he pointed to his tongue, signalling if he was okay. The Smoker only coughed as he nodded in return to his gesture. The Hunter gave his own head a nod to acknowledge his health status. After that, they both just looked at each other with dead eyes before the Hunter turned around and began to walk away.

As he approached another door, he was elated when the entrance was already opened, knowing he didn't have to try to twist a handle. Stepping inside, ignoring everything in it, he made his way to the open window. Climbing out, he heard his feet clang on the metal beneath him. Climbing all the way up the scaffolding, he perched himself on the ledge of the building to see if he could find a place that would most likely have food.

The city was huge, nothing but apartment and office buildings after apartment and office buildings. Scanning to see if he could find a restaurant of sorts, he looked at the building where the girl had been pulled from. A growl escaped his mouth and he lunged into the air.

The breeze of him flying knocked back his hood while he leaped from building to building, feeling his insides shift as he did so. The feeling of the wind on his cracked face was uncomfortable to him. When he landed on another rooftop, he made sure to pull his hood back up as he ran across the roof, climbing to the edge and jumping off once more, this time landing on the street below.

As he approached the building, he saw a Hummer crashed into the side of it. The hood of the car was on fire around the light pole it had taken down with it. He had a strange feeling that if he were to touch this area, he would die. Seeing no other option but to climb up, he did just that.

Window panel after window panel, he quickly climbed his way to the top. Before peaking his head up all the way, he listened to see if he could hear the girl's friends; not knowing if they would be lingering up there still or not. When he heard nothing, he pulled himself all the way up. In a crouched stance, he stood there for a moment, studying his surroundings. White letters were painted on the roofing saying 'SOS'. Tilting his head at it, he felt he knew what it meant but the meaning was long passed his memory.

Taking his sights off of the lettering, he walked to a table that consisted of guns and ammo. Grabbing one of them, he studied it. These were the things that the humans used to shoot at them. Remembering how the humans held the guns, he positioned his hands in the right position. When nothing happened, he became stumped.

Undoing his holding position, he began to twist the gun around, wondering how it shot. When he started to point it to himself, his thumb had hit the trigger as he tried to hold the gun more steadily. A loud bang filled the air as the Hunter dropped the gun, screeching as he did so. Standing at the ledge of the building, he looked at where the bullet had hit him in the arm. His arm didn't bleed nor did he feel it.

Looking back at the gun, he squinted his eyes behind his hood. "They must know to only shoot infected." His thoughts reached him as he backed away from the gun, not wanting to be in front of the barrel.

As he backed away, he found himself running into a wall. Turning around, he circled it until he saw another door. Looking down at the handle, he refused to try and open it. Peaking his head back to the table where the guns were, he noticed a window directly behind it. Smiling, he ran to it, breaking it as he jumped straight in the center.

When his feet had hit the floor, he began to rummage through the room he was in. Looking in the closet, he found a couple of the common zombies. Pushing them out of the way to see if they were blocking anything, he left when he realized that they were not. Running out of the room, he began to search the rest of the place. His eyes lit up when he noticed a kitchen. Opening the refrigerator door, he noticed nothing.

Searching more, he found a closed door next to the living room. Not bothering to open it, he instead scratched it down. Leaping down the staircase that the door led to, he began to rummage through the rooms once again. His eyes lit up once more when he found another kitchen. As he checked the cupboards, he found some canned fruit, placing them in the pockets of his hoodie. Scratching down another door, he found pills in the pantry. Looking at the bottle, he shook it to see if it contained anything. When he heard little jingles of the pills flying around, he smiled and placed that in his pocket as well.

When he was done rummaging, he couldn't help but notice a giant wall had been knocked down. Stepping over it, he left the kitchen and entered another room. As he looked, he found another kitchen, but his eye did not light up; there was a giant hold in the middle of the kitchen floor. Huffing, he leaned over the hole to see what he could see.

Flashing red numbers continued to go off, but he could see light at the edges of the room below. Hopping down, he noticed that he could go one of two ways. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to go where the living room was. Ransacking that place too, he groaned when he had to take apart another door. The whole damn apocalypse and his only enemy besides the shooting humans was doors. As he looked inside, he could see that a vehicle had crashed into the side of the building.

Looking closer at it, he noticed that it was the same vehicle that he had seen before. Shrugging, he turned around to see his eyes drawn to a soda machine. Looking at the device, he couldn't remember how to use it, but knew there were liquids inside. Noticing buttons, he began to push them all, when nothing happened, he became animalistic.

Throwing his claws against the front of the vender, he began to scrape away until there was no more plastic. Smiling at the job he had done, he reached his hand in and felt cans. Grabbing them, he began to pull them out one at a time until his pockets could hold no more.

Leaving the room, he walked down dark hallways, passing by the room he had jumped down from. Looking forward, he noticed that a door was open, leading to the outside world. A smile made its way on his face when he realized he didn't have to scratch down another door.

It had started to lightly rain as the Hunter left the building complex. It didn't phase him nor the zombies lurking around. As his feet walked among the muddy streets, he couldn't help but find himself in a peaceful state. The world had gone to shit, but since he didn't remember how his life was before he turned, this was a wonderful place. It was survival of the fittest, natural selection, first come first serve. This was his world and he was happy to be in it.

His thoughts soon stopped when he heard guns firing. Climbing up the nearest building, he hurried himself to the edge to see what was going on. As he approached the edge, he could hear the groans and grunts of the zombies below; they seemed frantic about something. When he had finally looked over, he could see why. Humans.

Looking around, he saw a small group of 3 humans, yelling about as shots filled the air. As he watched, his eyes quickly darted over to a car when its alarm began to go off. "Oh, shit!" he heard one of them call as they grouped together, preparing for the worse. It was then that one of them had looked up, making eye contact with him. "Hunter!" the human shouted as he began to shoot.

The Hunter screeched as he crouched to jump away. Making his way on the building next to him, he climbed until he could hid himself behind the water tower. Peaking up, he realized that he didn't have to hide since the focus of the Humans were now on the commons running towards them.

He watched their battle, seeing common after common fall to the ground. As he continued to watch, his eyes grew wide when he saw a Smoker and Boomer. Both were members of his clan. Wondering what the hell they were doing, the Hunter began to yell, hoping that they would hear his cries. They didn't.

The Boomer had managed to sneak behind the humans, throwing up his putrid vile on them, attracting more common to them. As they were covered, the Smoker shot out his tongue, wrapping it around one of them, pulling them in as if he were Human fishing. Screams from the tangled human filled the air as the others fought off the ones still running at them. When the human was close enough to the Smoker, he began to claw him with his hands.

As soon as the vile was off of the Humans, the began to shoot the Smoker. Coughs of pain echoed in the air as the humans shot him. The coughs only lasted a few moments before the Smoker dropped to the ground. Untangling the Human from the ropes of tongue, they stopped and listened for the blubbing of the Boomer. When they noticed him climbing up a building, they all shot. From the released pressure that was inside of the Boomer, an explosion coursed through air as vile went in every direction. The Hunters eyes remained wide.

Shot after shot filled the air as the humans began to take down each common zombie until it was as if the whole world had gone silent. There were no more zombies, the car alarm had stopped, and all the humans did was stand there in disbelief. After moments, they conversed amongst each other with smiles on their faces. They didn't converse long before turning around, disappearing into the ground.

A rage filled the Hunter as he looked at the places where his friends had died. The Humans would pay for what they had done. Unclenching his fists from the water tower, he jumped off and began to run from building to building as he did before.

Passing the building that he had rummaged through, he jumped and leaped until he was at the scaffolding, climbing down a couple floors until he entered the open window. The Smoker that he had 'talked' to earlier was still there. He grunted and groaned at him, but the Hunter didn't reply. He walked passed him. Climbing over the rubble from the door he had damaged, he jumped down the flight of stairs until he approached the Human girl's door.

A heavy sigh left him as he placed his crooked hand on the door, trying to open it. After a few moments, he entered.

The girl was in the same spot he had left her in, leaning against the wall with her knees up, feet planted flat on the floor and her arms across her chest. Walking over to her, he emptied his pockets, handing over all that he had found.

"Thanks." Zoey spoke as she took the food and drinks from him. When she had received the pills, she tilted the bottle to see if there was any in there. The answer was yes. "Man, Louis was looking for these earlier." She spoke again as she placed the bottle next to her.

Looking down at the Human, the Hunter couldn't help but notice her comfort level being a touch higher than it was. It might have been due to al the pain she was in, but it was relaxing not having to hear her scream at him.

"I h-have to go." He spoke with little restraint. The screeching he had done earlier had really cleared his throat, making it easier for him to speak in her language.

Her brow twitched. She didn't know how this Hunter had some kind of agenda. Was he late for another seance? "Before you go, is there something I can open this with?" She held the can of fruit up to him. It didn't have an easy opening lid, so she was out of luck unless she wanted to possibly kill her teeth.

Taking the can from the girl, he used his claws to break through the metal, leaving a drinking sized hole for her.

Thanking him once more, she took the can from him, putting her finger in to squish up the fruit so it could leave the can, not caring if her fingers got sticky.

"Welco-come." The Hunter replied before turning around once more to leave the room, shutting it behind him. He had to gather his clan and enlighten them before the Humans got away.

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Please Review. Good and bad are always welcome.


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